Combined mop and brush attachment

ABSTRACT

Brush attachment for optional use with a mop frame of the type having a pair of pivoted and lockable wings engagable in opposed pockets of a mop when in planar relationship and swingable to non-planar relationship to permit the wings to be disengaged with the pockets. It is characterized by an elongated brush having a U-shaped frame overlying the mop frame, abutments engaging the forward legs of the wings, and a cam locking device engaging one of the rear legs of the wings. The cam locking device is so constructed to provide a lock to wings which vary somewhat in width thereof.

51 Sept. 23, 1975 1 COMBINED MOP AND BRUSH ATTACHMENT [75] Inventors:William W. Smith; Lawrence W.

' Alfred, both of Denver, C010.

[73] Assignees: Robert R. Anderson, Greeley;

William W. Smith, Denver, both of Colo. part interest to each [22]Filed: June 12, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 478,770

[52] US. Cl 15/115; 15/159 R; 15/229 BP [51] Int. Cl. A46B l5/00; A47L13/12; A47L 13/253 [58] Field of Search 15/114, 115,116 R, 116 A,15/148, 229 AP, 229 BP, 159 R; 401/22, 24,

Vosbikian et a1 15/115 3,157,901 11/1964 Murphy 15/115 X FOREIGN PATENTSOR APPLICATIONS 737,140 6/1966 Canada 15/115 Primary Examiner-DanielBlum Attorney, Agent, or FirmSheridan, Ross & Fields [57] ABSTRACT Brushattachment for optional use with a mop frame of the type having a pairof pivoted and lockable wings engagable in opposed pockets of a mop whenin planar relationship and swingable to. non-planar relation ship topermit the wings to be disengaged with the pockets. It is characterizedby an elongated brush having a U-shaped frame overlying the mop frame,abutments engaging the forward legs of the wings, and a cam lockingdevice engaging one of the rear legs of the wings. The cam lockingdevice is so constructed to provide a lock -to wings which vary somewhatin width thereof.

5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures US Patent Sept. 23,1975 Sheet 1 of 23,.906,5 80

I6 x i '2 W g 28 US Patent Sept. 23,1975 Sheet 2 of2 3,906,580

Ell-El Eli- E F: I I.

1 a: a Z Z A g... Q. z.

-METL COMBINED MOP AND BRUSH ATTACHMENT BACKGROUND OF. THE INVENTION Inthe art-of mopping floors or the like it has long been the practice toprovide a mop with a pair of opposed pockets at the top thereof whichreceive a pair of foldable and lockable wings of a mop frame, the wings,when in planar position, adapted to secure the mop to the frame, and,when unlocked and moved to non-planar position, adapted to permitremoval of the mop from the frame to facilitate cleaning or otherwisereconditioning same. An exemplary form of such construction is disclosedin the US. Pat. to Yamen, No. 2,840,840. While mops of this type arewell suited for removing dust or other fine debris from the floor, theyquickly clog when larger debris is present. To prevent such clogging itis often the practice to first sweep the floor with a brush to removethe larger debris and thence mop the floor with a suitable mop to removethe small debris, thus entailing two separate operations with theattendant consumption of labor and necessity of different equipment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention obviates the unnecessaryconsumption of labor by the provision of a brush attachment for a mopframe of the type referred to which is attached to the front of the mopframe so that the larger debris is swept forwardly so that the mopengages a pre cleaned floor area and thus minimizes clogging by thelarger debris. It thus performs in one operation, the separate brushingand mopping operations sometimes performed by prior practice.

While the broad combination of a brush and mop has been proposed, suchdevices generally are constructed to be used in combination. The presentinvention differs therefrom in that the wing type mop frame may beemployed separately only for mopping and, when brush sweeping is alsodesired, a brush in the form of an attachment may be quickly applied toa wing type mop frame.

The principal object of the invention, accordingly, is the provision ofa brush attachment for a foldable wing mop frame which may be optionallyused with a mop carried by the mop frame.

Another object is the provision of a brush attachment which may be addedas an accessory to certain mop frames previously purchased by users.

Another object is the provision of a novel combination of a mop frame ofspecific type and a brush attachment for same.

A further object is the provision of a brush attachment which may beapplied to mop frames of the folding wing type which vary somewhat inthe width of the wing legs.

Still further objects, advantages and salient features will become moreapparent from the detailed description to follow, the appended claimsand the accompanying drawing to now be briefly described.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the subjectof the invention illustrating a bristle brush attachment affixed to amop frame;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the brush attachment;

FIG. 3 is plan as viewed in the direction of arrow 3, FIG. I;

FIG. 4 is a section taken on line 4-4, FIG. 3; FIG. 5 is a section takenon line 5-5, FIG. 3; and FIG. 6 is a section taken on line 6.6, FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to thedrawing, and first to FIGS. 1 and 2, brush 10 comprises an elongated bar12 to which bristles 14 are secured in any desired manner and a channelshaped bar holder 16 secured to bar 12, such as by screws 18. Theforward ends of legs 20 of a U- shaped member 22 are welded to barholder 16 and a plate 24 is welded to the bight of the U. Plate 24 isapertured to rotatably receive a shaft 25 having a handle 26, the lowerend of the shaft having a cam 28 to be subsequently described in moredetail. The plate also carries a pair of pins 30 to limit rotationalmovement of handle 26; A pair of channel shaped abutments 32, 32 arealso welded to bar holder 16, the purpose of which will alsosubsequently appear. The elements so far described comprise theessential structrue of the brush attachment for a specific type mopholder to now be described in detail.

Referring now to FIG. 3, mbp holder 34 comprised a pair of U-shapedwings 36, 36 which engage within pockets 38, 38 of mop 40. The wings arepivotally se cured together midway between their ends so that they mayswing between planar relation and non-planar relation for releasing samefrom the pockets. A grid-like member 42 is welded to one of the wingsand is provided with a rod 44 which may be locked to rod 46 whichcarries a rotatable latch 48, as best shown in FIG. 6. As will beapparent, when latch 48 is rotated counterclockwise (FIG. 6) the twowings are free to pivot to non-planar relationship to permit releasethereof from the mop pockets. Grid 42 also has affixed thereto a handlesupport or bracket 50- which may swivel about the longitudinal andhorizontal axis of the wings. Handle 52 is connected to the bracket by awing nut and screw 54 for swivelling about the wing screw axis. Thus,the handle may be disposed at various angles relative to the floor andat various angles relative to the direction in which the mop and brushare moved across the floor. Thus, the connection of the handle to themop frame serves the purpose of a universal joint, except that thehandle may be clamped to bracket 50 by wing screw 54 to dispose it at anangle relative to the direction of movement of the mop and brush.

In applying the brush to the mop frame, U-shaped member 22 is moveddownwardly along the handle and abutments 32 are engaged with theforward legs of the wing members. Cam 28, as best shown in FIG. 5, isaligned with one of the rear legs of the wings and handle 26 is rotateduntil it abuts a stop pin 30. As will be apparent, this produces acompressive force on the frame and locks same between abutments 32 andcam 28.

Cam 28, as illustrated in FIG. 5, is actually two cams 28, 28' havingdifferent eccentricities so that one or the other may be selected foruse with mop frames having differing wing widths. Thus, when the handleis disposed in the position of FIG. 2, the cam is unlocked. A movementfrom this position in one direction or the other then locks the brush tomop frames of variable width. It will be apparent, however, that asingle cam may be formed with increasing eccentricity so that duringmovement through about 90 it will lock to a wide frame and by continuedrotation through about another 90 it will lock to a more narrow frame.It thus becomes apparent that if the cam eccentricity is chosen to lockto the widest mop frame encountered, and also the most narrowencountered, it will be effective to lock to any others intermediatebetween the range of widths referred to.

What is claimed is: l. A brush in combination with a mop having a frameof the type having a pair of like outwardly extending U- shaped wingspivotally connected together between ends thereof, the wings, when inplanar relationship, adapted to engage within opposed pockets at the topof an elongated mop, and when disposed in non-planar relationship,adapted to permit removal of the mop therefrom, said wings forminggenerally parallel legs at the front and rear edges thereof, and meansfor locking said wings in planar relationship, comprising:

said brush being elongated and of a length coextensive with the lengthof the mop and having bristles adapted to sweep a floor ahead of themop, and

means for releasably securing said brush to said generally parallellegs.

2. A brush in accordance with claim 1 wherein said generally parallellegs are formed of circular wire or rod and said means for releasablysecuring said brush thereto comprises open channel abutments secured tothe brush adapted to partially surround the front legs of the wings, aU-shaped member secured to said brush adapted to lie above the mop frameand having a bight portion disposed adjacent the rear legs centrallythereof, a rotatable cam carried by the bight portion for releasablyengaging at least one of the rear legs of the wings for forcing thefront legs into the channel abutments, and a lever for rotating sameinto and out of engagement with a rear leg.

3. A brush for use with a mop having a frame of the type having a pairof like outwardly extending U- shaped wings pivotally connected togetherbetween ends thereof, the wings, when in planar relationship, adapted toengage within opposed pockets at the top of an elongated mop, and whendisposed in non-planar relationship, adapted to permit removal of themop there from, said wings forming generally parallel legs at the frontand rear edges thereof, and means for locking said wings in planarrelationship, comprising:

said brush being elongated and of a length coextensive with the lengthof the mop and having bristles adapted to sweep a floor ahead of themop, and

means for releasably securing said brush to said generally parallellegs;

said generally parallel legs being formed of circular wire or rod andsaid means for releasably securing said brush thereto comprising openchannel abutments secured to the brush adapted to partially surround thefront legs of the wings, a U-shaped member secured to said brush adaptedto lie above the mop frame and having a bight portion disposed adjacentthe rear legs centrally thereof, and means carried by said bight portionfor releasably engaging at least one of the rear legs of the wings forforcing the front legs into the channel abutment.

4. A brush in accordance with claim 3 wherein the means carried by thebight portion comprises a rotatable cam and a lever for rotating sameinto and out of engagement with a rear leg.

5. A brush in accordance with claim 4 wherein said cam is so constructedto engage frames having variable distance between the front and rearlegs.

1. A brush in combination with a mop having a frame of the type having apair of like outwardly extending U-shaped wings pivotally connectedtogether between ends thereof, the wings, when in planar relationship,adapted to engage within opposed pockets at the top of an elongated mop,and when disposed in nonplanar relationship, adapted to permit removalof the mop therefrom, said wings forming generally parallel legs at thefront and rear edges thereof, and means for locking said wings in planarrelationship, comprising: said brush being elongated and of a lengthcoextensive with the length of the mop and having bristles adapted tosweep a floor ahead of the mop, and means for releasably securing saidbrush to said generally parallel legs.
 2. A brush in accordance withclaim 1 wherein said generally parallel legs are formed of circular wireor rod and said means for releasably securing said brush theretocomprises open channel abutments secured to the brush adapted topartially surround the front legs of the wings, a U-shaped membersecured to said brush adapted to lie above the mop frame and having abight portion disposed adjacent the rear legs centrally thereof, arotatable cam carried by the bight portion for releasably engaging atleast one of the rear legs of the wings for forcing the front legs intothe channel abutments, and a lever for rotating same into and out ofengagement with a rear leg.
 3. A brush for use with a mop having a frameof the type having a pair of like outwardly extending U-shaped wingspivotally connected together between ends thereof, the wings, when inplanar relationship, adapted to engage within opposed pockets at the topof an elongated mop, and when disposed in non-planar relationship,adapted to permit removal of the mop therefrom, said wings forminggenerally parallel legs at the front and rear edges thereof, and meansfor locking said wings in planar relationship, comprising: said brushbeing elongated and of a length coextensive with the length of the mopand having bristles adapted to sweep a floor ahead of the mop, and meansfor releasably securing said brush to said generally parallel legs; saidgenerally parallel legs being formed of circular wire or rod and saidmeans for releasably securing said brush thereto comprising open channelabutments secured to the brush adapted to partially surround the frontlegs of the wings, a U-shaped member secured to said brush adapted tolie above the mop frame and having a bight portion disposed adjacent therear legs centrally thereof, and means carried by said bight portion forreleasably engaging at least one of the rear legs of the wings forforcing the front legs into the channel abutment.
 4. A brush inaccordance with claim 3 wherein the means carried by the bight portioncomprises a rotatable cam and a lever for rotating same into and out ofengagement with a rear leg.
 5. A brush in accordance with claim 4wherein said cam is so constructed to engage frames having variabledistance between the front and rear legs.